Towards a Ritual Turn in Comparative Theology: Opportunities, Challenges, and Problems
Harvard Theological Review 2018 DOI: 10.1017/s0017816017000360 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 12 |
| Key points | Argues that comparative theology's textual focus may limit understanding of religion, and proposes that engaging material and ritual practices alongside texts will raise different theological questions and reveal aspects of the divine invisible to textual study alone. Frames textual and ritual comparison as complementary rather than privileging either. |
Abstract
Abstract Comparative theology generally begins from a study of texts, scriptural texts that have been canonized, and commentaries on these texts—as well as philosophical, theological and mystical treatises. Though this textual focus gives us access to some of the most subtle and nuanced reasonings developed in various traditions, I am concerned that this textual focus may limit our understanding of religion, and I am convinced that broadening the scope of comparative theology beyond texts will also contribute to the theological creativity of this approach. I hypothesize that, depending on the sort of source from which we theologize, different questions will come to mind relating to different theological problems. Indeed, turning to material and ritual practices, in addition to textual sources, will reveal aspects of the divine that remain invisible when one stays within the limits of textual study. I do not, in any way, want to turn this into an either/or story in which reading texts is placed over against engaging ritual and material practices. What I envision is a complementarity between textual and ritual comparison, not a privileging of one over the other.